I Bought The Slowest, Cheapest, and Weirdest McLaren in the USA 

Hey Hoovie! I know this comment will likely get buried somewhere. But as a Turbo Grand Prix owner for over 10 years I thought I should chime in and offer up some advice and further information on the cars. The cars were made in 89 and 90, available in only red and black. Mine is a 89, same color combo as yours. No official production numbers were ever kept on these cars. But the most credible production numbers are 749 built in 89 and 3,750 in 90. They also produced a sedan version in 90 called the TSTE, 1,000 of these were made. The sunroof was in fact a factory installed roof and not aftermarket. It was also not standard. The only options were sunroof and leather for 89 and a optional CD player was added for 90. You have two of the most common TGP problems. The ABS system malfunctioning and the speedometer and tachometer being way off. The Wizard is correct that parts for the ABS system (which is called the Powermaster III or PMIII for short) can be difficult and expensive to source. He is also correct in saying a standard vacuum based non ABS system from a similar year Grand Prix (or any W-Body for that matter) can be retrofitted to your car. However it is a fairly time consuming venture as the dash will need to be pulled in order to swap the firewall plates over. You will need to source a firewall plate as they cannot be bought new. Also new brake lines will need to be ran to the rear as the PMIII system only has one line running back to a proportioning valve. Myself and a good friend did this brake conversion on mine at the same time we were swapping it to a 5 speed manual a few years ago. The other option is to retrofit a F-Body brake booster and master into the car, which does not require swapping the firewall plate. There are a few guys who have successfully pulled this off and it would likely be the easier route to go. As for the cluster, it is not a wiring issue as I have seen some people mention in the comment. The problem is in the cluster itself, the resistors on the circuit board that control the needles degrade over time causing the resistance to change, therefore changing the position of the needles. This happens to all turbo clusters and they are specific to the turbo cars. A friend of mine rebuilds them. Getting the cluster rebuilt will also fix the issue yours has with the low fuel and check gauges lights being on at all times. On a final note you should pull the ECU out (located on the right side of the engine bay under the fusebox) and pop out the MEMCAL to see if it has a tuned chip in it. I would imagine it most likely does. A few guys were tuning the MEMCALs for increased boost and power gains back in the day. Now there is one guy in NC who does it. He had to re flash my car after the 5 speed swap. These cars are fun, unique and quirky. But also can be problematic and difficult to find some parts for. As you said in the video any money you put in to this you will likely not see back out of it. Even with all the little issues this has taken care of it is still probably no more than a $3,000 car at most. Enjoy it for what it is! It will certainly be a hit at a local car and coffee or cruise night. Mine always gets plenty of attention at such events. Best of luck with the car!

Why am I attracted to a 30 year old front wheel drive Pontiac?

That interior... Pontiac was still on the Knight Rider high.

Those seats actually look pretty comfortable , and the split on the seat reminds of the new Lincoln seats with all the fancy adjustments

How to tell your date at the bar that you drive a McLaren, and not lie

Hoovie: "Another feature" Doug DeMuro: "No Tyler, another quirk"

That thing was a monster back in the days when you have to imagine that the Mustang an the Camaro was only maxing 220/250 horsepower with crazy torque 302/350 the Grand Prix Turbo was rated at 205 horsepower with 225 foot pounds of torque out of a V6 killing the Game my partner had one tuned with race injectors cold air intake upgraded fuel pump upgraded Turbo in 94 it was killing everything back then wide open!!!!!!

That physical, mechanical equalizer... WANT haha.

You going back to the cheap Craigslist specials is what will make RU-vid Great Again.

OMG that OEM turbo flutter is BOSS!!!

My first car was a 94 Pontiac Bonneville sse. I loved that car. It had a similar interior and heads up display. It also had the same rims.

Grand Prix's are a good highway cruiser, comfortable. I have a soft spot of Pontiac from the era, they were trying a hell of a lot harder than the rest of GM. I wouldn't mind a supercharged Bonneville.

ohhh mannnn i would love to see rcr review a car like this

please detail the interior would be interesting to see super clean

I paid $500 for mine back in 2009. still have it. has 240k miles and runs like a dream. 90 grand prix McLaren edition

Your 90s GM obsession is why I love this channel. I'm on my 3rd 90s GM car (a 92 Park Avenue, in part because I was impressed by your review). Previously I'd owned a 95 Corsica and a 92 Deville that both looked like hell but both were able to get me across large parts of the US despite leaking like sieves. These cars are good-looking, comfortable, pleasant to drive, easy to fix, they'll run forever if you take care of them, and when things do go wrong they seldom leave you stranded.

Hooptie status restored.

Keeping the car wizard funding for the next 80 years

i remember seeing this car at a new car show as a kid. i remember the steering wheel buttons that looked so cool, and those back seat buckets. i was so obsessed i bought one of those plastic model cars that you glue together. every time i saw a grand prix in real life i'd look in the back seat, and be disappointed.

I had a 96 Pontiac GTP, and I can see a lot of influence from this car.

Thank God you're buying shit cars we don't get in Europe again. Thought you were going to go "full tavarish"

Hey Tyler, what are you really doing with your cars and channel ? You buy cars, fix them a little, and maybe then sell them. This Pontiac is a great car to start doing something different. How about buying some of these either unknown or forgotten special collectible cars, and start to restore them for a Tyler collection of forgotten cars ?

This is what it sounds like, when doves cry

Thanks for this, i would have never heard about this specific model and its features if it wasn't for your channel! just WOW. Keep it coming!

LOL when I watched this video, right after he said "of course it leaks" there was a Maxi pad commercial that said " for all the little leaks"

You say pigeon, but I hear the scanner on Kitt from Knight Rider!

Back in the day I loved the Grand Prix with all its buttons and gadgetry! I remember reading about this car in magazines when it came out. I almost bought a new black 2 door supercharged in 1995. I'd love to see you get this car properly fixed up, cleaned and running very soon!

There’s a guy down the street from me he has a Shelby lancer. It’s a cool little Chrysler that got the Carroll Shelby treatment with a 2.2 turbocharged 4 cylinder.

You should buy the Chrysler TC by Maserati next

Have to give you credit Hoovie, despite the fact you pretty much loose your shirt every time you do however make a good job of not letting some of the older more unique cars go unforgotten.. admittedly some of them need to be forgotten but you do bring back some good memories.

That is definitely cool so interesting. Imagine having one when it was new .

"The biggest problem I have with this car is the breaks which don't really work ... but when I floor this car" Haha I love it 😂

The first 16 seconds of this video couldn’t have been more true. If I want to see RR’s or Ferraris I’ll watch Harry’s Garage, not Hoovie. This is the home for interesting beaters, please keep it that way.

For some reason I kinda like this car

I have no idea what I stumbled upon with your channel, but I can't stop watching. You are hilarious! You need a cable show!

I love this car muchly. It screams 80s soooo much. V6 and turbo flutter sound great

You’re hilarious dude! There were a few of those in my hometown growing up. They were considered pretty quick back then!

My dog perked up when you floored the pigeon.

My aunt had one of these when they came out. It looked so futuristic at its time

Believe it or not the Moonroof was not standard. These cars came loaded and only had 3 options other then color black or red. The options were moonroof, leather, and CD player. Pretty cool cars that at the time cost almost as much as a Corvette. The PMIII brakes is usually the death of these cars. They are pretty fun cars and aren’t terribly slow. It should run a very low 15 second 1/4 stock. I bought mine 6 years ago from the original owner for $1,200.

OMG!!!!!!! HOOVIE I LOVE YOU! This was my first car! My Uncle bought it brand new in 1990 from Dixie Buick GMC Trucks in Fort Myers Florida. Because we were still holding rounds of the Hooters Off-shore Power Boat racing mine had a wonderful sticker on the windshield that read "OFFICIAL-CAR HOOTER OFFSHORE POWERBOAT RACING" Unfortunately by the time I bought the car in 1999 it just said "OFFICIAL CAR". Either way the car was a blast. Just enough power to get in trouble with. Torque steer that would rip the wheel from your hands and adjustable seats that would make a current generation Lincoln Navigator jealous. Thank you so much for doing this.

6:27 - Hoovie's Rolls :)

Spotted one of these in LV a few years ago... people laughed when I said it was a cool car. Being an Aussie, they thought I knew nothing Thanks for this great lil video

"Oh, Hoover, you've done it again." (Do you ever have this internal Mr Magoo quote in your head after you buy these silly hoopties?) Keep it coming. Cant wait for the new RU-vid show.

Do a "Lambo/McLaren" pivoting door conversion!

Damn those seats look so comfy

Lol... when he said Pontiacs with the Wizard the caption read “potty hacks” 😂

I love how Hoovie and the wizard get along so well on the show.

I hope Doug reviews this

Hoovie: Love your videos - spent many a late evening watching. One thing, though: when you're working with "The Wizard" in the garage, would it be possible to get him a microphone? CHEERS!

My Dad actually owned one when I was in junior high and high school love that car. It was tons o fun to drive and my buddies were always shocked at all the buttons and seats etc...

Love the door handles in the pillars, it’s so sexy

Turn this bad puppy into a track car so you can tell people “race me in my Mclaren” Wow he NEEDS to do it after 100 likes

I was thinking you bought the MP4-12C at first...

Excellent video, I appreciate the unique cars that I likely would never own or even look at. So many out there, but you certainly bring out some good points of cars my biased would never have allowed to consider driving.

Wanted one of these so badly back then. I would drive by one sitting in a driveway from the time it was brand new. I bought a 91 SE coupe a few years later and loved it.

I think you have a pigeon suck under the hood .... Correction You definitely have a pigeon under the hood

All those buttonz... love that steering wheel

I miss my 1993 Grand Prix GTP. I used to fly around turns with that car lol. It accelerated pretty well for what it was. Oh and get the rear leaf spring bushings replaced ASAP. If you dont the spring ends will grind away on the knuckles and ruin the spring. They sell like a hard plastic replacement bushing that just slides under the spring and is easy to install.

Solid interesting car, I have no interest really in exotics, but this car is awesome! that front bumper with the intakes, fantastic!

These were HOT cars when I was in High School. 200hp was a lot then when compared to Chrysler Daytona's and similar year V6 Mustangs....Lots of jam out of that 3.1L block!

Gotta love these early 90s pontiacs! I've got a 1994 Pontiac Bonneville SSEi as my first car haha.

Nice review. Glad to see the channel going back to reviewing cheap odd hoopties . The exotics they’re nice but hardly cheap as most people here probably can’t even get close to affording them.

I'm impressed with this car. I've always wanted one. Love the look of the car.

Some things of note : the sunroof isn’t aftermarket. It’s factory. Leaking is unusual for these. It was also optional. Converting to vacuum brakes is an extensive job, but doable. It requires changing a removable part of the firewall. I have stockpiles of good parts here. I’ve sold 2 of my own for more than double what you paid for that. So don’t be so sure on the value. I restored one for someone else with a factory correct 5 speed swap. That car sold recently for far more than $2100. The transverse fiberglass leaf is standard GM W body parts from 88-96. There’s a guy in PA that fixes the clusters perfectly and inexpensively. I wish I was closer so I could fix all the issues on yours. I love these cars.

Well this is not what I was expecting when I saw the notification.

It’s about time ye got back to the hoopdies ! Love the Chanel from Mick in Ireland 🇮🇪

@4:03 the funniest and realest I've ever seen him act. Hahahaha

It is an interesting piece, being from Australia I have not heard of this car before. The interior is especially interesting. A real snap-shot if 90's trying to be the future? I think it would be great if this car was fully restored. Clean up the interior, reupholstered, re-painted etc. Would be fantastic to see it like it was new. But i guess full resto's aren't your thing, would be a grate set of video's doing the resto, maybe Wizard could do it? Anyway I'll have to keep watching to see what you do with it.

As Hoovie is pulling into the Wizard's garage, "What the hell is this 30-year-old piece of shi... Oh, it's Hoovie! Never mind..." ;-)

That pontiac actually looks pretty kool

My ex-wife and I owned a Chevrolet Beretta Z34, which is the Chevy version of that platform. It had the same 3.1l V6, but naturally aspirated. That car got incredible highway gas mileage and it would get up and roll when you stomped the throttle. Handled well, good brakes, comfortable interior. Good stereo, nice electronic dash. No complaints at all here.

This is the best thing you have bought in a really really really really really one more really long time

Since it sounds like a pigeon, you could name it the Fire-Pigeon.

I used to LOVE this car when it was first introduced! Never knew what the back seats looked like.

I used to own one of these. Well, my brother bought it, and gave it to me when he realized it was more work than he could spare at the time. That was his 2nd one. I really hope to find another TGP in running condition someday! For now, I am happy in my '02 GTP. ;)

I had the 1989 Grand Prix with the exact same interior w/crazy 9 point lumbar & the compass computer. Mine had the digital speedo and odometer. Mine was white. Crazy that Hoovie bought a car like I used to have.

That's a suprisingly sexy Pontiac

I had a 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix I LOVED it ate breaks and alternators and I had to rebuild the transmission once but besides that it was just the coolest car I ever owned all those stupid buttons and the 56 billion ways to adjust the seats for a 19yo Kid it was something special. The "Calibrate Compass" message on the computer cracked me up I remember reading my manual and driving in circles trying to get that message to go away lol seeing you pop the hood and seeing that 3.1 V6 almost made me cry. I hope to one day be in a position to get one again you should have shown the instrument cluster at night all those red lights made the thing look like the Batmobile or something. Amazing Fun Cars they sounded great with that growl and were just a blast to drive just don't let the door close on your leg you might lose a foot they weigh about 467lbs lol

I love Pontiac Grand Prix's thank you for buying this

Drop a 3.8 supercharged in it ... you had so much luck with engine swapping

The dash gauges are ground wires. It’s typical, got to be a lose ground wire somewhere on the dash.

I had one of those as an Airman! We called it “The Intergalactic Space Hooptie” because the interior lighting looked so awesome at night. Was a maintenance nightmare. “Here’s your Pontiac, here’s your multimeter and chiltons manual.” Best seats ever though.

I bought my 89 Turbo back in 90. This one came from General Motors Storage and had 3000 miles. Mine was used as a Pace Car for the movie DAYS OF THUNDER filmed right here in Concord, NC. Mine has been stored for years, currently @ 7,034 miles with original everything including original tires. Keep it covered and stored in my garage. Still love it today.

11:31. The Wizard is secretly a hipster, he's wearing Blundstones, the shoes hipsters wear. ^^

Grand Prix McLaren. Very cool. You could do a lot with a turbo. An aftermarket blow off valve will fix that noise when you release gas pedal.

Looks super futuristic inside, really cool ride

I had a 91 Bonneville SSE I bought from a buddy who needed money and sold to another friend who needed a cheap car. That had a fairly similar interior except double the rows of Seat Controls. Even the headrests had like 4 Electric Adjustments! lol! This GTP has GOT to be quite rare. You never see them on the road obviously but even for sale is difficult. The Supercharged 3.8 later gens are even becoming somewhat "rare" in proper shape and trim. They've always been really the ultimate sleeper car. Certainly "Fast" (6.6 0-60), Good on Fuel (18-20MPG), Comfortable, Cheap to repair (even when the Supercharger starts to sound like a box of rocks). If it wasn't for the pathetic GM interiors - They're just about perfect cars.

My ex-girlfriend dad had one that looked like this but was black and gold. It also said GXP on the side. Always liked that car!

Goddamnit I was gonna start getting ready for work :(

Those were awesome cars and still are! Always wanted one back in the day, you got a nice one and a great deal!

My first car was 1989 Grand Prix SE. Had almost as much stuff inside as this one. My speedometer was LCD though...

I had a neighbor who lived across the street from me when I lived in NC that owned one of these from new. He was going to use it sparingly, and hold on to it forever because it was going to be worth a mint in the future. Like a Charger Daytona or a Superbird. I don't know what future or how many more years he'll have to wait. I saw a pretty nice looking one with low miles sell for 7K . Hemmings shows them averaging around 5K. One with less than 10K miles is for sale at 14K. Not much appreciation for a 25K car. I'm sure my NC neighbor is still waiting for his ship to come in.

I don't need it I don't need it I don't need it I DEFINITELY don't need it I NEEEEEED IIIIIIIT

Pontiac had some great looking cars back then, but they had some serious wiring problems(See the Bonneville SSEI with the Digital Dash).....

My older brother had a red one just like that. I’m 12 years younger than him and 11 year old me felt like Tom cruise in top gun every time I road in it. He is a car freak and used to spend hours every Saturday cleaning those wheels using a tooth brush to get into all the books and crannies. Best video I’ve watched on RU-vid in a while. !! Memories

I got a 1992 Grand Prix for $300. Running and driving. Clean in n out 20mpg. Only 169k miles on it. I love how well it's doing

The seats are like what you find in a Lincoln navigator

I love the old Pontiac's. Keep up the awesome videos!

watched a few of your vids and im getting a distinct Jeff Goldblum feel from your mannerisms and accent. this is a good thing I LOVE Jeff Goldblum!